Celina Balderas Guzmán, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture. Dr. Balderas’ research spans environmental planning, design, and science and focuses on climate adaptation to sea level rise on the coast and urban stormwater inland. On the coast, her work demonstrates specific ways that the climate adaptation actions of humans and adaptation of ecosystems are interdependent. Her work explores how these interdependencies can be maladaptive by shifting vulnerabilities to other humans or non-humans, or synergistic. Using ecological modeling, she has explored these interdependencies focusing on coastal wetlands as nature-based solutions. Her work informs cross-sectoral adaptation planning at a regional scale.
Inland, Dr. Balderas studies urban stormwater through a social-ecological lens. Using data science and case studies, her work investigates the relationship between stormwater pollution and the social, urban form, and land cover characteristics of watersheds. In past research, she developed new typologies of stormwater wetlands based on lab testing in collaboration with environmental engineers. The designs closely integrated hydraulic performance, ecological potential, and recreational opportunities into one form.
Her research has been funded by major institutions such as the National Science Foundation, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, UC Berkeley, and the MIT Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab. She has a PhD in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. Previously, she obtained masters degrees in urban planning and urban design, as well as an undergraduate degree in architecture all from MIT.
The College of Built Environments launched a funding opportunity for those whose research has been affected by the ongoing pandemic. The Research Restart Fund, with awards up to $5,000, has awarded 4 grants in its first of two cycles. A grant was awarded to Real Estate faculty member Arthur Acolin, who is partnering with the City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development to understand barriers that homeowners, particularly those with lower incomes, face to building Accessory Dwelling Units…
Chapman, Cameron; Horner, Richard R. (2010). Performance Assessment of a Street-Drainage Bioretention System. Water Environment Research, 82(2), 109 – 119.
View Publication
Abstract
Event-based, flow-paced composite sampling was carried out at the inlet and outlet of a street-side bioretention facility in Seattle, Washington, to assess its ability to reduce street runoff quantity and pollutants. Over 2.5 years, 48 to 74% of the incoming runoff was lost to infiltration and evaporation. Outlet pollutant concentrations were significantly lower than those at the inlet for nearly all monitored constituents. In terms of mass, the system retained most of the incoming pollutants. Besides soluble reactive phosphorus (the mass of which possibly increased), dissolved copper was the least effectively retained; at least 58% of dissolved copper (and potentially as much as 79%) was captured by the system. Motor oil was removed most effectively, with 92 to 96% of the incoming motor oil not leaving the system. The results indicate that bioretention systems can achieve a high level of runoff retention and treatment in real-weather conditions. Water Environ. Res., 82, 109 (2010).
Keywords
Stormwater; Removal; Runoff; Bioretention; Water Quality Monitoring; Best Management Practices; Low-impact Development
Bailey, David R.; Dittbrenner, Benjamin J.; Yocom, Ken P. (2019). Reintegrating The North American Beaver (castor Canadensis) In The Urban Landscape. Wires Water, 6(1).
View Publication
Abstract
In recent decades, ecological restoration and landscape architecture have focused on reintegrating ecological processes in the urban environment to support greater habitat complexity and increase biodiversity. As these values are more broadly recognized, new approaches are being investigated to increase ecosystem services and ecological benefits in urban areas. Ecosystem engineers, such as the North American beaver (Castor canadensis), can create complex habitat and influence ecological processes in natural environments. Through dam building and wetland formation, beaver can create fish habitat, diversify vegetation in riparian zones, and aggrade sediment to increase stream productivity. As beaver populations have increased in urban areas across North America, their presence presents challenges and opportunities. Beaver can be integrated into the design of new and established urban green spaces to improve ecosystem functions. If managed properly, the conflicts that beaver sometimes create can be minimized. In this paper, we examine how landscape architects and restoration ecologists are anticipating the geomorphic and hydrological implications of beaver reintroduction in the design of wetlands and urban natural areas at regional and site levels. We present an urban beaver map and three case studies in Seattle, WA, USA, to identify various approaches, successes, and management strategies for integrating the actions of beaver into project designs. We make recommendations for how designers can capitalize on the benefits of beaver by identifying sites with increased likelihood of colonization, leveraging ecosystem engineers in design conception, designing site features to reduce constraints for the reintroduction and establishment of beaver, and anticipating and managing impacts. This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Engineering Water > Planning Water
Keywords
Beavers; Cities & Towns In Art; Nature; Riparian Areas; Municipal Water Supply; Restoration Ecology; Wetland Ecology; United States; Seattle (wash.); North America; Beaver; Biodiversity; Castor Canadensis; Ecological Design; Ecological Restoration; Ecosystem Engineers; Ecosystem Services; Species Richness; Wetland Habitat; River-basin; Dams; Channel; Streams; Impact; Water; Ponds; Ecology; Urban Populations; Habitats; Ecosystem Management; Landscape Architecture; Colonization; Fish; Geomorphology; Habitat; Design; Ecological Monitoring; Landscape; Urban Areas; Restoration; Riparian Environments; Ecosystems; Wetlands; Ecologists; Reintroduction; Case Studies; Environmental Restoration; Open Spaces; Freshwater Mammals; Urban Environments; Aquatic Mammals; Water Conservation; Ecological Effects; Disputes; Design Engineering; Dam Construction; Engineers; Urban Planning; Complexity; Hydrology
Winterbottom, Daniel. (2010). Building Bosnia. Landscape Architecture, 100(4), 94 – 102.
Di Masso, Andres; Williams, Daniel R.; Raymond, Christopher M.; Buchecker, Matthias; Degenhardt, Barbara; Devine-Wright, Patrick; Hertzog, Alice; Lewicka, Maria; Manzo, Lynne; Shahrad, Azadeh; Stedman, Richard; Verbrugge, Laura; von Wirth, Timo. (2019). Between Fixities and Flows: Navigating Place Attachments in an Increasingly Mobile World. Journal Of Environmental Psychology, 61, 125 – 133.
View Publication
Abstract
This paper develops a theoretical argument for how place attachments are forged and become dynamically linked to increasingly common mobility practices. First, we argue that mobilities, rather than negating the importance of place, shift our understanding of place and the habitual ways we relate to and bond with places as distinct from a conception of place attachment premised on fixity and stability. Second, we document how the body of research on place attachment has both reinforced and contested 'sedentaristic' assumptions criticized within the so-called 'mobilities turn' in the social sciences. Third, we present a conceptual framework, built around different modes of interrelation between fixity and flow, as a way to re-theorize, link and balance the various studies of place attachment that have grappled with mobility. Finally, we sketch out the main research implications of this framework for advancing our understanding of place attachment in a mobile world.
Keywords
Sense; Identity; Dimensions; Mobilities; Home; Cosmopolitan; Environment; Migration; Community; Benefits; Flow; Fixity; Place Attachment; Human Settlements; Psychology; Social Environment
Karvonen, Andrew; Yocom, Ken. (2011). The Civics Of Urban Nature: Enacting Hybrid Landscapes. Environment & Planning A, 43(6), 1305 – 1322.
View Publication
Abstract
Urban nature is typically managed through top-down, bureaucratic, and expert-driven approaches that tend to rationalize and simplify the interactions between humans and their surroundings. In the last few decades, there has been a significant push in cultural geography and the design disciplines to develop a relational ontology of urban nature, a perspective that emphasizes the hybrid connections between humans and nonhumans, built and unbuilt, social and natural. This perspective offers new and exciting ways of conceptualizing urban nature but it has not produced alternatives to conventional governance. In other words, thinking differently about urban nature has yet to produce different ways of interacting with it. In this paper we argue that civic environmentalism can enact a relational ontology by engaging urban residents in processes of democratic deliberation and action in the reworking of urban nature. We illustrate this approach with a case study of a community-led project to construct a pedestrian trail along an urban creek in Seattle, Washington. The example demonstrates how the concept of civic environmentalism embraces a relational perspective of urban nature, while also producing generative forms of political action.
Keywords
Cities & Towns; Ontology; Deliberation; Environmentalism; Trails; Rivers; Washington (state); Seattle (wash.)
Moudon, Anne Vernez; Huang, Ruizhu; Stewart, Orion T.; Cohen-Cline, Hannah; Noonan, Carolyn; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Duncan, Glen E. (2019). Probabilistic Walking Models Using Built Environment and Sociodemographic Predictors. Population Health Metrics, 17(1).
View Publication
Abstract
BackgroundIndividual sociodemographic and home neighborhood built environment (BE) factors influence the probability of engaging in health-enhancing levels of walking or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Methods are needed to parsimoniously model the associations.MethodsParticipants included 2392 adults drawn from a community-based twin registry living in the Seattle region. Objective BE measures from four domains (regional context, neighborhood composition, destinations, transportation) were taken for neighborhood sizes of 833 and 1666 road network meters from home. Hosmer and Lemeshow's methods served to fit logistic regression models of walking and MVPA outcomes using sociodemographic and BE predictors. Backward elimination identified variables included in final models, and comparison of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves determined model fit improvements.ResultsBuilt environment variables associated with physical activity were reduced from 86 to 5 or fewer. Sociodemographic and BE variables from all four BE domains were associated with activity outcomes but differed by activity type and neighborhood size. For the study population, ROC comparisons indicated that adding BE variables to a base model of sociodemographic factors did not improve the ability to predict walking or MVPA.ConclusionsUsing sociodemographic and built environment factors, the proposed approach can guide the estimation of activity prediction models for different activity types, neighborhood sizes, and discrete BE characteristics. Variables associated with walking and MVPA are population and neighborhood BE-specific.
Keywords
Walking; Confidence Intervals; Research Funding; Transportation; Logistic Regression Analysis; Built Environment; Socioeconomic Factors; Predictive Validity; Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves; Data Analysis Software; Descriptive Statistics; Psychology; Washington (state); Active Travel; Home Neighborhood Domains; Physical Activity; Physical-activity; United-states; Life Stage; Adults; Attributes; Health; Associations; Destination; Pitfalls
Streatfield, David C. (2012). The San Francisco Peninsula’s Great Estates: Part I. Eden, 15(1), 1 – 14.
Abstract
The article presents a historical background of several great estates in San Francisco Peninsula in California known for their unique landscaping and special garden designs in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It discusses the climate and settlement styles in the area and offers information on the earliest estates such as the El Cerrito created by merchant William Davis Merry Howard and the notable mid-Victorian estates such as the Millbrae estate of banker Darius Ogden Mills.
Keywords
Garden Design; Landscape Design; Landscape Gardening; San Francisco Peninsula (calif.); California
Way, Thaisa. (2019). What is the Urban Landscape and What Role in Urban History? Journal Of Urban History, 45(3), 595 – 600.
View Publication
Keywords
Urban; Landscapes; Modernism; Preservation; Architecture; Cities